Mk4-E2E8 Panzer II "Hummel"
The Mk4-E2E8 Panzer II "Hummel" '''is the second officially produced Knightmare Frame for the Europian United Armed Forces and had been their main Knightmare during the early months of the Second Great War before being replaced by the updated Mk4-E3E8 Panzer IIB "Hummel" soon after the start of the war before slowly being replaced with the slightly superior Mk5-C3C5 Mistral and the prototype Mk6-W0X Alexander six months into the war. Appearance An update to the earlier Mk3-E2E6 Panzer I "Grille" but adding some slight humanoid characteristics to the design over the hunched tank-like form of the "Grille". This includes a slightly more humanoid looking profile and actual legs added to the design. Even then some characteristics are still carried over from the "Grille" like the arms basically being weapons instead of the more human-like arms of Britannian Knightmares. Also, the feet are basically tank-like though sporting regular wheels instead of the earlier treads. The color scheme is the same as the earlier "Grille" light gray and dark blue highlights. Later during the Second Great War several units using these units would have them repainted in camouflage colors trying to get one over on Britannian units. Design and Historical Notes In 2010 a.t.b., the Holy Britannian Empire would develop the first Fourth Generation Knightmare Frame: the RPI-11 Glasgow, and utilize it prominently during the Second Pacific War against the neutral Republic of Japan. Realizing the true power of the knightmare frame from that conflict, the EU would be quick in developing and fielding its own fourth generation unit: the Mk4-E2E8 Panzer II, otherwise nicknamed the "Hummel" (Bumblebee) by its designers. An obvious descendant of the earlier generation Mk3-E2E6 Panzer I, the Hummel was noteworthy for being the first Europian designed-knightmare to adopt a humanoid stature; as opposed to the dwarf-sized Panzer I, the Hummel was of the standard size for knightmares, as well as possessing humanoid arms and legs. That being said, the Hummel still followed the "half-tank" design motif of its predecessor, such that its legs were little more than support extensions to a set of tank-styled landspinners, while its arms where merely mounts for its weapons. Because of this, the Hummel is very well armored and durable, more so than the average knightmare frame. Along that line, while most Britannian Knightmares focus on close combat, the Panzer Hummel is a long-range machine, sporting twin 90mm Cannons in place of arms, 30mm Machine Guns on its hips and a set of slash harkens in its torso. Alongside, it also features improved sensor systems from the Panzer I, amongst which are a set of radomes on top of its torso, which in turn grant the Hummel a "double head" image. All of this combined with its fair mobility, the Hummel is more than a match for the Britannian Glasgow, such that military theorists estimate that it would take two or three Glasgows just to take down one Hummel. This is would lead some EU Higher Ups to be smugly confidant in this Knightmare which would lead to them to wave off any further development in Knightmares leading the Britannian to introduce the RPI-13 Sutherland without any counterpart from the EU being developed. This would see the Panzer II remaining in service with the EU through the Fifth Generation of Knightmares and into the Second Great War which would see the Sutherland and Gloucester along with supporting forces quite capable of fighting against the unwieldy Panzer IIs during the opening invasions of the war against France and Spain. This would lead the EU to quickly updating their aging Knightmares with better armor and weapons making the Mk4-E3E8 Panzer-IIB which is a slight upgrade over the older regular Panzer-II. It would however not be enough to fight against the far more mobile knightmares of Britannia on a level field leading to the development of the modified '''Mk4-E3E8 Panzer IIB “Hummel”, and the increasing amounts of the formerly rare 'Mk5-C3C5 Mistral. ' Variants Mk4-E3E8 Panzer IIB “Hummel” Main Article: Mk4-E3E8 Panzer IIB "Hummel" An updated variant of the regular Panzer II that swapped out its Tungsten-Ceramic Composite based armor with a heavier but more sturdy Tungsten-Titanium Composite along with upgrading its weapons with the faster-firing but less powerful KwK110 75mm Cannons. During the Britannian Russian Invasion, a few months into the war these upgraded Knightmares along with the newer French-produced Mk5-C3C5 Mistral, the German-Italian produced Mk5-R13P2 Silberritter, the Russian produced Mk3-R3A4 Volga and brand-new Mk6-W0X Alexander Series would go a long way to stemming the tide of the Britannian Invasion. Mk4-E4E9 Panzer II “Wespe” A variant of the regular Panzer II that is focused more on heavy firepower and heavily artillery then anti-knightmare combat. It possesses a large KwK200 100mm heavy cannon mounted on its shoulder while its KwK120 cannons are swapped out for AwK100 55mm Auto Cannons and its MG22 Machine Guns swapped out for ScG99 Grenade Launchers. While this machine is quite powerful it is not often used during the Second Great War due to it being far slower and less maneuverable then the regular Panzer IIs. Not to mention the general use of Ratte Class Modular Landkreuzers equipped with HwK300 160mm Guns were far superior artillery weapons then these knightmares. Even then a handful of these Knightmares would go on to serve in several battles during the Second Great War. PtA1200 Panzer “Türmchen” An interesting take on the popular Panzer II Knightmare is a mobile semi-fixed turret version of the knightmare that is basically the top half of the Panzer II equipped with a pair of AwK100 55mm Autocannons or KwK120 90mm Cannons on its arms. The turret is mounted on either a trailer-like base that can be moved when needed or can be fixed onto a regular turret-like base. It also can be either automated controlled by a distant command center or mobile command car, or it can be equipped with a regular knightmare-like cockpit block for someone to control it directly. Thanks to the Mistral becoming ever more popular on the frontlines and the Alexander Series becoming quite useful many Panzer II Knightmares have started to be converted into these turrets. Therefore, they have become a common sight along the front and used by many in the EU’s Combined Armed Forces. Notes and Trivia * The Mk4-E2E9 Panzer II "Hummel" while based on the official Panzer Hummel from the series is quite different in its background which is burrowed once more from '''Wing Zero Alpha '''with some additions from myself like the updated Mk4-E3E8 Panzer IIB which is the Akito the Exiled version of the machine and the addition of a few notable variants of the design. * The Mk4-E4E9 Panzer II "Wespe" is actually a modified form of the little known Panzer Wespe from one of the Mangas and is heavily based image-wise on an image done by unoservix on DeviantArt. Category:Knightmare Frames Category:Divergence Point Knightmares